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William Shatner: Criticism From 'Star Trek' Cast Is From People “Bitter And Embittered”

posted a year ago by TMC-4 (19416)
20 replies | jump to latest

https://deadline.com/2022/11/william-shatner-criticism-from-star-trek-cast-from-people-bitter-embittered-1235170873/

By Bruce Haring

November 12, 2022 4:17pm

As they near the final frontier, there’s apparently still some scores to settle between the castmates of the original Star Trek television and film franchises.

Speaking to The Times of London for an interview that ran Friday, William Shatner, who played Captain James T. Kirk on TV and in seven films, gave a few jabs back at one of the people he worked with on those projects.

At 91, Shatner hasn’t forgotten the criticism of his behavior when the cameras were not rolling.

“Sixty years after some incident, they are still on that track. Don’t you think that’s a little weird? It’s like a sickness,” he said of the criticism. “I began to understand that they were doing it for publicity.”

George Takei was simply the latest. The actor, who played Sulu in the shows, claimed Shatner’s 2021 trip on Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin rocket was done to have a “guinea pig” to assess the impact of space on an “unfit” man.

“George [Takei] has never stopped blackening my name” Shatner said. “These people are bitter and embittered. I have run out of patience with them. Why give credence to people consumed by envy and hate?”

Takei, who is very active on Twitter, has yet to respond.

[–] [deleted] a year ago

Well, I'm sure there was a dark motive on Bezos' part to invite Shatner on the flight, like more publicity for his company.

[–] brux (14666) a year ago

It would be pretty bad if Shat had died on that flight. That's more along the lines of Elon Musk.

[–] Darren (1133) a year ago

No, it's not. Stop it. Nobody had a single problem with Elon Musk until he bought Twitter and stopped shadow banning people. Why is that a problem for you? Are you against free speech? If so, why?

It is beyond ridiculous to suppose that one of the world's cleverest and most successful businessmen would send a famous actor into space planning to get him killed. Why? What beef could he have with Shatner that would make him want Shatner's death? A man he has probably never even met? Why would he want the damage that such negative publicity would inevitably bring? There is literally no upside, and no conceivable motive for getting Shatner killed. Do you even hear yourself?

It is way, way past time for you damned SJWs to stop acting like everyone who doesn't agree with you on everything is the second coming of Adolf Hitler.

[–] AndyKing1967 (33852) a year ago

Maybe he prefers Star Wars.

[–] brux (14666) a year ago

A-troll

[–] bozo_500 (12221) a year ago

No wonder Shatner is sick of that BS. Takei needs to realise (before its too late) that were it not for Shatner there wouldn't have even been a Star Trek as we know it , it'd have just been some half forgotten scifi series from the 60s lasting a couple of seasons with Jack Lord as 'captain kirk'

[–] kwestmo (4114) a year ago

Jack Lord wouldn't have worked at all. He was quite good in H50, but ST is a different animal.

[–] shumailashaf (1) a year ago

Are you looking for a historic movie?
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22807484/?ref_=hm_tpks_tt_t_4_pd_tp1_pbr_ic

[–] OnanTheBarbarian (10345) a year ago

George Takei is a ridiculous stereotype of a bitchy old queen. He's certainly destroyed the legacy of the character Sulu.

"Oh my!" What a fop.

[–] brux (14666) a year ago

I just heard an interview with the BBC with George Takai about his play of being in the Japanese internment camp. The moronic British interviewer kept pronouncing his name as George Tacky.

[–] OnanTheBarbarian (10345) a year ago

Hahaha. George is very tacky.

Takei illustrates how often the "gay" stereotype of the limpwristed effeminate male is often just gay men living up to an expectation. George Takei wasn't effeminate when he played Sulu in the 60's. Where did this "Oh my!" screamer come from?

[–] brux (14666) a year ago

All of that is George's problem. Maybe it gives him more credibility as a gay spokesperson, or he is just cutting loose. I don't care. George is OK with me. So is Shatner, but he is such a disappointment.

[–] OnanTheBarbarian (10345) a year ago

Actually, I'm LGBT myself. No, it does not give Takei credibility to me or most gay men. He's a swishing stereoptype. It's like Aunt Jemima being a spokesperson for blacks.

William Shatner to me is an iconic hero. Why is he a disappointment to you?

[–] brux (14666) a year ago

I said maybe Takei thinks acting gay adds to his image.

That's a complicated subject. One is just how his personality has been reported by many people he has worked with. Then there was the audio where some company had hired him to to an advertisement and he screwed over the director of the commercial - he was a real jerk. Then how he took his big dogs to the set and they were running around free scaring people. Then there is the crappy quality of the later Star Trek movies. Then there is his opposition to the people who have make follow-on Star Trek episodes you can see on YouTube. Good actor for James Kirk in a series I loved.

[–] OnanTheBarbarian (10345) a year ago

Okay, maybe it's an internal LGBT issue. Some gay guys like the swishing affectation. Some of us hate it. I just think if Takei wants to be a spokesman for the community he needs to tone down the "Oh my" crap.

I get your point about Shatner. Another celebrity with an oboxious sense of self entitled privilege. Like he's a diva. Oh well.

[–] Destinata (2605) a year ago

Takei is an attention hog himself. I dismiss everything he says.

But everyone I’ve heard — and one person I know personally — who’s dealt with him could not stand Shatner. He was jealous of Walter Koenig, for example, for getting more teen fan mail than he did. How small is that? Koenig’s character was aimed at teens. Did Shatner want to be everything to everybody?

Only Leonard Nimoy seemed to like him.

Now I’m beginning to wonder if James Spader liked him in Boston Legal.

[–] CarolTheDabbler (518) a year ago

... everyone I’ve heard — and one person I know personally — who’s dealt with him could not stand Shatner.

My friend and I knew only a few other Trek fans. We were oblivious to the existence of organized fandom till most of the way through third season. But we could already tell -- just by watching the show -- that Shatner was all about Shatner. By third season, Kirk was "borrowing" lines that clearly belonged to other characters -- explaining science to Spock, explaining the engines to Scotty, etc. Even Nimoy complained about that in one of his books, saying that Shatner didn't understand that the head of any "enterprise" needs to pick experts to run each department -- and then needs to let them run it. That explanation makes sense to me, but I think there's more to it than that.

Somewhere in one of Shatner's own books (which alas I do not seem to have bookmarked), he says something very much like this: "The other cast members have let all the attention they're getting from the fans fool them into thinking they're more important than they really are." That sounds to me like Shatner's ego talking. He doesn't seem to realize that the fans really ARE to some extent responsible for deciding which cast members are the most important. Nor does he seem to realize that many fans saw ST as something of an ensemble show, long before those became fashionable.

[–] Destinata (2605) a year ago

Everyone had their favorite character. I guess he couldn't handle that.

In the meantime I looked to see if he and Spader actually got on. It makes you almost like Shatner. Spader acted like a diva, so Shatner would occasionally put Vaseline on his prop drink glasses just to watch the "WHAT DID I JUST TOUCH???" reaction. Since Spader is the one person who might be more disliked by cast and crew than Shatner, that no doubt made Shatner more popular on the set.

[–] brux (14666) a year ago

> Shatner’s 2021 trip on Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin rocket was done to have a “guinea pig” to assess the impact of space on an “unfit” man.

I have to admit to being pretty much grossed out by Shatner's bloated body floating around the capsule's cabin. He is so huge. It's hard to believe that he is in his 90's God bless the old fart. The saying goes there are old people and there are fat people, but there are no old, fat people. William Fatner ... bloating where no man has bloated before.

[–] Rorikon (16393) a year ago

Takei... https://youtu.be/pwotCRq2NQA?t=263